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Get the FAQs - Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions
Water and Sewer (Wastewater) Rates
Q. How does Central Elgin determine water and sewer (wastewater) rates?
A. Water and wastewater rates are approved by the municipal council, but the province is involved. The province has directed that municipalities have financial plans in place that show that the municipality is charging rates or transitioning to rates that will pay for the full cost of providing the water or wastewater service. The plan includes establishing reserves to replace each section of watermain and other infrastructure at the end of its lifespan, whether that time is now or in 75 years.
Central Elgin's water and wastewater needs and rates reports are available. Click here to view the most recent reports. The reports inventory all of the infrastructure including main sections and their age. The reports detail how the rates charged customers were calculated.
Q Do all residents in Central Elgin pay the same water and sewer rates or are the rates different from community to community?
A. The same rates apply to all residents.
Q. Why are Central Elgin's rates different from other municipalities?
A. One of the most significant factors affecting water and sewer rates is the sum of money needed to replace or finance the replacement of mains, treatment systems, pumps and other infrastructure. Unfortunately, a significant portion of Central Elgin's water and wastewater infrastructure was (is) older and has been recently replaced or requires replacement in the near future. Municipalities with newer infrastructure have time to save up for replacement and do not require as much revenue to fund this construction work now.
Proposed East Road Sidewalk
Q. I thought Central Elgin was going to construct a sidewalk on East Road in Port Stanley last year. There's no sidewalk. What happened?
A. You are right, the 2009 Capital Budget approved this project. Central Elgin still plans to construct this sidewalk. However, East Road is a County Road and the new sidewalk requires County approval. Central Elgin is now working with the County to satisfy its conditions so the sidewalk can be constructed as soon as possible.
Garbage and Recycling
Q. Why does the Municipality issue garbage tags?
A. A number of small and medium sized Ontario Municipalities have implemented bag tag systems. The Ontario Centre for Municipal Best Practices identified the following benefits of a bag tag or "pay as you throw system"
- communicates importance of waste reduction to the public,
- relatively low cost to administer; and
- results in significant waste reduction.
Central Elgin implemented its bag tag system coupled with an expanded blue box collection program in 2007.
Q. Why not require bag tags for garbage bags that exceed a weekly limit?
A. Although a few municipalities do use this system, enforcing the limits can be a big problem. There is no quick, simple way for the garbage collector to know how much garbage each property is entitled to place at curbside if only excess garbage bags have to be tagged since the number of allowable bags will vary depending upon the the number of dwelling units, places of business or farm status of the property. Requiring garbage tags on every bag is simple. If the bag has a tag, it is collected. If not, it is left behind. As well, tags increase the public's awareness about how much waste they generate each year.
Bag tags also provide the property owner with flexibility. If they have more waste one week eg they are "spring cleaning" and have extra garbage, they can use tags and put out as may bags as they wish. They are not limited to two bags per week.
More Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about Waste Management are available by clicking here.
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